Black Wedding
by KeepCalmFanFicExists
Summary: Rodolphus Lestrange is dreaming of his future married life at the night of his wedding. Is everything going to go according to his wonderful plan or is he way too optimistic?


Rodolphus Lestrange was very happy that late summer evening. The stars were twinkling happily in the sky, a cool, perfumed breeze came from the open window and a ring was shining brilliantly on his finger. It was gold with a sapphire being held by two serpents. He had especially asked for that type of stone: he wanted it to be a notion to his wife's beautiful eyes, the ones of the woman he had just married.

Bellatrix had been, until that afternoon, the most eligible bachelorette in the whole pureblooded world. Technically, they had been betrothed since they were small children, but nowadays these were mere formalities and weren't considered solid decisions, if either of them wanted, the engagement could be broken up at any time. Bellatrix' beauty was in the paper every time she attended a social occasion and her family's wealth and bloodline could be compared only to his own.

She was also quite famous for her... eccentricity and fierce character. She was a most unusual pureblooded lady: a sworn believer in pureblood supremacy and at the same time she enjoyed conversations on politics and economics. She was very fond of traditions and perfect manners, and yet she didn't hesitate to give them a twist to serve her agenda better. Bellatrix was always extremely independent and outspoken, but didn't have any close friends, male or female, at school and among the pureblooded children. She had been an excellent student, not a very studious one though, a girl who had beaten all the boys in duelling at school; from year one.

Rodolphus knew she was no picnic or a delicate flower offered to him, and he didn't intend to treat her as such. He would be giving her the opportunity to continue her studies as much as she wanted, to be seeing her sisters -for whom he had noticed his new wife had a soft spot- as often as she wished and, in general, leave her to her own devices. He wanted her to be his wife, he loved her, and maybe she didn't love him, not yet anyway, but he was sure they could be at least very good friends first. And the way to do that was to give her space to be her bizarre and wonderful self.

True to that, today at the wedding she had appeared in a blue and black gown, instead of the usual blue the pureblood community preferred. And there had been no veil, just the crown of orange blossoms. At least she was honest and original. He knew she was by no means a virgin, even though she had graduated from school a month ago. Rodolphus had seen his wife accompanied quite often by the same tall figure, the one society would now call The Dark Lord. The exceptionally pale man with the icy stare and sharp smile regularly talked to her with that smooth, polite voice and she was the only woman he agreed to share a dance with at the various balls, even though every girl would have given an arm and a leg to be his dance partner. He had even showed up a couple of times to pick her up from the train station. And he had attended the wedding as well, dressed totally in black. The man's head had jerked ever so slightly when the question "does anyone object to this union" had been set, Rodolphus had taken note of that, but ultimately he had remained silent.

Bellatrix, on the other hand, had been expressionless during the whole service, not bothering to look at the sea of guests once, not even to search for _him_. Who knew, perhaps their relationship was purely physical for her. The Dark Lord was... well- the Dark Lord, being attracted to him was only natural, but he, Rodolphus, was closer to her age. He was very handsome, clever and confident, everything she most likely appreciated in the Dark Lord, with the difference of being younger and kinder to her. She could approach him better and, he didn't believe he said it, the Dark Lord would have to get over it, he could have anything he wanted, Bellatrix couldn't be so vital for him.

Rodolphus turned his gaze to the stars. Little bellatrix was not in the sky in the summer, so he had brought her to his house forever and now she was showering in the bathroom. She had asked for that very politely and calmly and he had been thrilled to see she didn't view him as the enemy or something similar. She had been gone for some time, he had to admit, but he himself was a bit nervous about what the rest of the night would consist of, she had every right to take her time.

He took a deep breath as he made spicy speculations on how she was going to come to him. He doubted a simple dress or underwear was her style, her reputation of being rough preceded her. His bet was on black lace, elegant and provocative at the same time, just like her. They would have such pretty children, that-

"Dolph, I have to go out," a voice came from the distance.

Rodolphus turned around to see his wife coming out of the bathroom dressed in a casual evening dress, her hair put up in an elegant knot, the symbol of the married woman. Lost in his thoughts, he had to replay Bellatrix' words to realise their bizarreness.

"My friends call me Rod," he started, focusing on the only not-important part, "you can call-"

"I prefer Dolph, the other one makes funny innuendos, if you know what I mean," Bellatrix interrupted absent-mindedly, as she put on a pair of discreet golden earrings and grabbed her hat. "And now, I have to go, or I will be late. You don't think I need anything heavier than a thin cloak, do you?"

Rodolphus watched her walk to the entrance of their chamber positively bewildered.

"B-But we have to-to, I mean-" he struggled to find his words, "shouldn't we go to-" he pointed at the vast, four-poster bed they would be sharing for the rest of their lives. Bellatrix had opened the door and was already half-out of the room. She turned to look at him over her shoulder though, a devilish smirk on her face.

"Oh, I am sorry for the misunderstanding, I should have mentioned. I don't sleep with married men."

* * *

><p>Bellatrix stood next to the old door not knocking yet, even though she was close to being late. She was thinking hard. She had just abandoned her husband very rudely and cruelly on the first night of their wedding to come to see the Dark Lord; they had very important matters to discuss concerning the upcoming coup d'état of the Ministry . They had agreed to the meeting, both ignoring the fact it was her wedding night, many months ago and she wouldn't miss it for the world. Still she felt a pinch of pity for Rodolphus; he had done nothing to her, so why had she been so cold? Why couldn't she love him instead of-<p>

Well, it would certainly make her life easier, Rodolphus was everything a woman would want and he had even accepted her free, wild personality, agreeing to "give her space", as he called it. The Dark Lord was not an easy man, he could be cold and demanding, overbearing and overprotective, or even cruel, qualities that on their own were not attractive at all. So how could the sum of some excellent characteristics leave her indifferent, while a combination of irritating ones made the mix so seductive? Add killer good-looks and the wildest mind one could ever encounter and the result was thrilling.

She gave a look at her hand: next to each other two rings embraced her pale fingers. One gold and sapphire, with the words "memento mei" inscribed on the inside, the other silver with a black diamond, the most precious of gems. Her beauty versus her nature as a whole. Quietly she took the sapphire one off and put it around her neck, along with her engagement ring she was wearing on a golden, delicate chain.

The nervousness she felt as she knocked on the door of the Dark Lord's house verified her decision. Yes, maybe the Dark Lord was not an easy man, but she liked the challenge. And so did he.

_A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think. _

_Note: This is not consistent with my headcanon on Rodolphus or his relationship with Bellatrix, I just felt like writing it. I'd say Bella is fine, though. ;)_

_In the Middle Ages the colour of purity was blue and that's why wedding dresses had that colour. Brides wore veils as a symbol of purity as well as to keep jinxes away. Orange blossoms were worn only by the nobiliy who could afford that luxury._


End file.
